DOES SUSTAINABLE WORK ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCE WORK ENGAGEMENT, JOB SATISFACTION AND EMPLOYEE RETENTION? PERSPECTIVES FROM E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY

Objective: The objective of the study is to assess the influence of Sustainable work environment on work engagement, job satisfaction and employee retention. The study also examines the mediating effect of work engagement and job satisfaction between sustainable work environment and employee retention. Theoretical framework: Employee retention problems are emerging as the most critical workforce management challenges in the present era. In order to cater to these challenges, organizations need to work on employee retention strategies work engagement, etc. Work environment is identified as an important factor to predict employee retention. Sustainable work environment components were identified based on social exchange theory and employer-employee relationship. Sustainable work environment such as perceived climate, supervisory relationship, peer group interaction, perceived organizational support are included in the study. Method: A total of 181 valid responses were received from the employee of e-commerce firms. The hypothesized model was tested with the help of multiple regression analysis and mediation analysis. Results and conclusion: The findings of the study suggests that sustainable work environment positively and significantly predicting work engagement, job satisfaction and employee retention. The results of mediating analysis show that work engagement and job satisfactions are completely mediating the relationship between sustainable work environment and employee retention. Implications of the research: The study has several practical implications for e-commerce firms in particular Human resource Professionals of such firms. The study findings infer that sustainable work environment (perceived climate, supervisory relationship, peer group interaction, and perceived organizational support) has huge impact on employee retention i.e., when conducive work environment, supervisory support, good peer group interaction and organizational support are provided to employees, they will be more engaged with the organization and remain with the same organization for a long run. Originality/value: There are very few studies have attempted to assess the sustainable work environment in e-commerce industry in India. Hence, this study is first of its kind to analyse the influence of sustainable work environment on employee retention among employees of e-commerce industry.


INTRODUCTION
In the context of challenging e-commerce business environment, retaining employees becomes significant task. Cost of acquiring new employees is higher than cost retaining existing employees for any organization. Due to this fact e-commerce firms focusing on ways to retain the exiting employees by offering various welfare measure and facilities. According to Subhash C. Kundu, Kusum Lata (2017), employees are retained in organizations due to reward, recognition and respect; If these factors are provided to employees the absenteeism rates can be reduced, it would give pleasurable work environment and ultimately leads to higher earning and they become loyal employees. Guchait and Cho (2010) found that about 80% of employees look for better work environment and it becomes essential to create conducive work environment. Juhdi et.al. (2013) organizational engagement has emerged as one of the important topics to discuss. Saks (2006) found in his study that organizational engagement is one of the strongest indicators of employee turnover. Whereas engaged employees are viewed as strategic assets (Nutov and Hazzan, 2014) to e-commerce firms. Highly engaged employees are likely to be satisfied with job and likely to remain with e-commerce provider. The level of job satisfaction in the workplace is the factor that influences absenteeism which in turn it may cost employee turnover (George and Jones, 2002). Employees who are dissatisfied with their jobs are more likely to be leaving the organization where they work (Bigley et.al., 1996). Subhash C. Kundu and Kusum Lata (2017) introduced a contextualized perspective of the supportive work environment in form of perceived climate, supervisory relationship, peer group interaction, and perceived organizational support.
A sense of comfort in the work environment will affect influence on the success of the work performed by employees; also a conducive work environment will provide a sense of security and enable employees to work optimally (Hasan et al, 2023) . The present study identified the Sustainable work environment components on the basis of social exchange theory and employer-employee relationship. Social exchange theory assumes that individuals are rational decision-makers who aim to maximize their own self-interest. It provides a framework for understanding the dynamics of social interactions, relationship formation, maintenance, and dissolution. By analyzing the perceived rewards, costs, and alternatives, social exchange theory helps explain why individuals engage in certain relationships and how their decisions may change over time. It also suggests that the employer-employee relationship is influenced by social exchanges and mutual benefits. It views the relationship as a series of interactions where both parties contribute to and receive rewards from the partnership. Employees are motivated to provide their skills and efforts beyond the basic employment contract when they perceive that they are receiving fair treatment, recognition, career development opportunities, and other forms of social and emotional support from their employer. It's important to note that these theories provide different perspectives on the employer-employee relationship, and the actual dynamics can vary based on various factors such as organizational culture, industry norms, and individual preferences. The study intends to address the following research questions that Does Sustainable work environment influence Work engagement, job satisfaction and employee retention? Hence there is a need to understand the present work engagement strategies, perceptions towards sustainable work environment, etc. Therefore, the present study assesses the influence of Sustainable work environment (perceived climate, supervisory relationship, peer group interaction, and perceived organizational support) on work engagement, job satisfaction and employee retention. The study also examines the mediating effect of work engagement and job satisfaction between sustainable work environment and employee retention.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Organizational work environment stimulates the HR practices and employees' behavior that is directly linked to the employee reinforcement (Ma Prieto and Pérez-Santana, 2014). Employees are more likely to stay with organizational process if they are engaged, as engaged employees are more passionate towards learning (Bhatnagar, 2007). Samuel Aryee et.al (2013) have analyzed the relationship between family supportive work environment and employee work behaviors. The results show that the supportive work place influence the employee work behavior significantly. Helen Lingard and Valerie Francis (2005) have studied the effect of supportive work environment as a moderator between work family conflict and emotional exhaustion. The results show that the perceived organizational support, practical supervisor support and co-worker support moderates the relationship between WFC and emotional exhaustion whereas emotional support from supervisor doesn't moderates the relationship. Lisa Michelle Fiksenbaum (2014) has analysed the implications of supportive work family environments and work family conflict on well-being. The results show that the work family conflict adversely affect the employee's well-being. According to Rhoades et al., (2001), infers that how 'organizational support' build affective commitment among employees and strengthen their emotional connection with the organization on the basis of Organizational support theory and social support theory. Sustainable work environment boosts the interest level of employees towards their jobs (Ma Prieto and Pérez-Santana, 2014). Sustainable work environment results in higher organizational commitment (Rhoades et al., 2001) and improved employee retention (Eisenberger et al., 2002). Organizations will have to consider sustainability implications when developing guidelines for hybrid work, both in terms of social and ecological aspects. They will also have to re-design both physical and digital workplaces to fit the new and emergent needs of employees in hybrid work models (Chafi et al, 2022).
Simon Albrecht et.al (2017) have analysed the effect of organizational resources on employee engagement with the parallel mediation of organizational engagement climate and job resources. The results show that the organizational resources have the significant impact on employee engagement and the mediators have a significant and positive mediating effect. Andrea A. Kittredge (2010) has predicted the effect of work and personal factors on organizational engagement. The findings of the study demonstrate that participants experience higher work engagement relative to organizational engagement. Linda Rhoades et.al. (2001) have studied the interrelationship among affective commitment and rewards with the mediation of perceived organizational support. The result shows that the organizational rewards and commitment are positively influenced and POS positively mediated the relationship between the variables.
Maria Karanika Murray et.al. (2014) have studied the effect of organizational identification on job satisfaction with the mediation of work engagement. The results shows that the organizational identification is significantly related to job satisfaction and the work engagement fully mediates the relationship. Nadarasa and Thuraisingam (2012) have analysed the influence of principal's leadership style on teacher's job satisfaction and the study shows that the demographic leadership style has a positive impact on teacher's job satisfaction whereas autocratic leadership has negative impact. Timothy A. Judge et.al. (2000) have analyzed the effect of personality (core self-evaluations) on job satisfaction with the mediating role of job characteristics (perceived job characteristics and job complexity). The results show that the core self-evaluations had a significant relationship with job satisfaction and the job characteristics mediated the relationship. Structure and physical environment; cooperation and reciprocity in the work environment; participation in decisions; merit recognition; identification with the institution; controls; functional autonomy; conflicts; remuneration and opportunity are found to be important dimensions which influence organizational climate and individual creative performance (Silva et al, 2021) Marwa Gaber Ahmed Fahim (2018) has analysed the effect of strategic human resource management on employee retention and the results shows that there is significant and positive relationship exists between the variables. Dr.Biju Roy (2018) has conducted a study about factors determining employee retention. The results show significant relationship between Training and Employee retention. Santoshi Sen Gupta et al. (2008) has conducted the study about employee attrition and retention. The results shows that monotonous nature of work as the major reason for attrition and the motivational, hygiene and involvement factors as the important reason for retention.
Umamaheshwari and Jayasree Krishnan (2016) have studied the role of working environment, organization commitment, supervisor support and training & development in work force retention and found that except T&D all the other variables including work environment positively influences retention. David McGuire and Lauren McLaren (2008) have analysed the impact of physical environment on employee commitment & retention with the mediation of employee well-being and the results shows that the working conditions significantly impact the employee commitment and intention to stay . Jalal Hanaysha (2016) has tested the effect of employee engagement, work environment and organizational learning on organizational commitment and the results shows that the employee engagement, work environment and organizational learning statistically significantly related to organizational commitment. Raman Kumar and Surendra Kumar Sia (2012) have analysed the effect of work environment on employee engagement and the results shows that the work environment significantly influences the employee engagement. Elissa D. Giffords (2009) has examined the relationship between organizational/ professional commitment and Work Environment and found that the work environment significantly impact the organizational and professional commitment.
Subash C. Kundu and Kusum Lata (2017) have analysed the effects of work environment on employee retention with the mediating effect of organizational engagement and the results shows that the supportive work environment has a positive impact on employee retention and organizational engagement partially mediates the relationship between SWE and employee retention. When job satisfaction and employee engagement were modelled as mediators, it was evident that job satisfaction has a higher value than employee engagement (Achmad et al, 2023). Suharno Pawirosumarto et.al. (2016) have analysed the effect of work environment, leadership style and organizational culture on job satisfaction and employee performance and the results show that the work environment, leadership style & culture have a positive and significant impact on job satisfaction and only the leadership style significantly influence the employee performance. Abdul Raziq and Raheela Maulabakhsh (2015) have analysed the impact of working environment on job satisfaction and found that the work environment positively and significantly impact the job satisfaction. Peggy Lee et.al. (2017) have analysed the effect of job satisfaction on employee retention and the results shows that the job satisfaction has a positive and significant impact on employee retention.
Melinde Coetzee and Elleen Stoltz (2015) have studied the impact of employee's satisfaction on retention and found that positive and significant relationship between employee satisfaction and retention. Linda Fogarty et.al. (2014) have studied the effect of Job satisfaction on retention and the results shows that the job satisfaction significantly impact the employee retention. Safdar Rehman (2012) has studied the impact of recruitment on Job satisfaction and retention and found that if the employee is more satisfied with their jobs their chance of leaving the organization is low. Leanne S. Cowin et.al. (2008) have studied the effect of self-concept, job satisfaction on retention and found that the job satisfaction has a significant impact on employee retention.
From the literature it is evident that the very few studies have been done in Indian context. The existing research has shown only the mediation effect of organizational engagement on the relationship between supportive work environment and employee retention. However, there is very few studies have brought sustainability factor of work environment. Therefore, the present study identified sustainable work environment as independent variable. Work environment, job satisfaction as mediators and employee retention as dependent variable.

METHODOLOGY
The study adopted descriptive and cross-sectional research design. Convenience sampling techniques was adopted. A structured questionnaire was distributed to the respondents. Primary data based on 181 respondents from e-commerce firms' employees from Tamil Nādu were gathered and analyzed. The research instrument was split into two sections in which the first section comprises demographic details of the respondents and the second section comprises scaled questionnaire.
The research instrument consisted of four constructs namely Sustainable work environment, work Engagement, Job satisfaction and Employee retention. The items for the scales were adopted form Subhash C. Kundu  The factor loadings of the variable are given in table 1. Factor loadings are correlation coefficients between observed variables and latent common factors. From Table 1, the factor loadings of all the items in questionnaire are close to 1 indicates that the factor strongly influence the corresponding variable. Composite Reliability (CR) measures the reliability of the questionnaire. The acceptable value of CR is 0.7 and above. From the table 1, it is shown that the CR value ranges above 0.8 indicating more reliability. Average variance extracted (AVE) is used to find the convergent validity. The value above 0.7 are considered very good whereas the level of 0.5 is acceptable.
From the table 1, it is clear that the items are convergent to the variable. The data set was normally distributed. The hypothesized model was tested with the help of multiple regression analysis and mediation analysis. A bivariate correlation analysis is carried out among all the variables in SPSS. From Table 2, it is shown that the correlation between the variables is significant at 0.01 two tailed significance level.

Regression Analysis
The results of regression analysis indicate that Sustainable Work Environment is related to Employee Retention. H1 -Supportive Work Environment is related to Employee Retention. Employee Retention was regressed on Supportive Work Environment and the relationship is found to be positive and significant (β=0.590, p<=0.05). Hence the H1 -Sustainable Work Environment is related to Employee Retention is true.
H2 -Sustainable Work Environment is related to Work Engagement Work Engagement was regressed on Sustainable Work Environment and the relationship is found to be positive and significant (β=0.621, p<=0.05). Hence the hypothesis H2 is true.
H3 -Work Engagement is related to Employee Retention. Employee Retention was regressed on work Engagement and the relationship is found to be positive and significant (β=0.802, p<=0.05). Hence the hypothesis H3 is true.
H4 -Sustainable Work Environment is related to Job Satisfaction. Job Satisfaction was regressed on Sustainable Work Environment and the relationship is found to be positive and significant (β=0.709, p<=0.05). Hence the hypothesis H4 is true.
H5 -Job Satisfaction is related to Employee Retention. Employee Retention was regressed on Job Satisfaction and the relationship is found to be positive and significant (β=0.779, p<=0.05). Hence the hypothesis H5 is true.

Mediation Analysis
Mediation analysis is done by integrating the module PROCESS Version 3.5 by Andrew F. Hayes in SPSS to identify an observed relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable via the inclusion of a third mediator variable H6 -Work Engagement and Job Satisfaction mediates the relationship between Sustainable Work Environment and Employee Retention. Model: 4 Sample Size: 181; Y: ER; X: SWE; M1: WE; M2: JS; Outcome Variable: ER Work Engagement and Job Satisfaction are mediated between Sustainable Work Environment and Employee Retention. The indirect effect of mediation is tested using nonparametric bootstrapping.
From Table 3, (WE;β=0.4928 and JS;β=0.3636) the result shows that Work Engagement and Job Satisfaction are positively and significantly mediating the relationship between SWE & ER. Also, the indirect effect of mediation (WE; β=0.4553 and JS; β=0.3799) is statistically significant.
From table 3, the direct effect of SWE on ER is β=0.0411 (Path c'). Hence, it is concluded that the Work Engagement and Job Satisfaction completely mediates the relationship between Sustainable Work Environment and Employee Retention. Thus, the hypothesis H6 is supported.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Sustainable work environment is found to be a significant predictor for employee retention. The perceived organizational climate can have a significant impact on employee retention. organizational climate can influence retention through job satisfaction. Because, A positive organizational climate, characterized by supportive leadership, fair policies, and a conducive work environment, tends to enhance job satisfaction. When employees feel satisfied with their jobs, they are more likely to remain with the organization. A positive climate promotes employee engagement, where employees are emotionally invested in their work and feel a sense of commitment and loyalty towards the organization. Engaged employees are more likely to stay with the organization as they find their work meaningful and fulfilling. Subash C. Kundu and Kusum Lata (2017), confirms the results of the present studies that perceived organizational climate positively influence employee retention. Therefore, it is important for organizations to assess and understand the perceived organizational climate and its impact on employee retention. Regular employee surveys, feedback mechanisms, and open communication channels can help identify areas for improvement and create a positive work environment that promotes employee retention.
The supervisory relationship plays a significant role in employee retention. A positive and supportive relationship between supervisors and employees can contribute to higher job satisfaction, engagement, and commitment to the organization. Overall, a positive supervisory relationship characterized by effective communication, support, recognition, coaching, and a focus on employee well-being can significantly contribute to employee retention. It is essential for organizations to invest in training and supporting supervisors to develop the skills and behaviours necessary to build strong relationships with their team members. Rhoades et al., (2001), organizational support builds commitment of employees; Umamaheshwari and Jayasree Krishnan (2016) confirm out study results that supervisors support predicts employee retention.
Peer group interaction can play a significant role in employee retention. When employees have positive interactions with their peers, it can contribute to their overall job satisfaction and commitment to the organization. To leverage the positive impact of peer group interaction on employee retention, organizations can encourage collaboration through team-building activities, establish mentorship programs, provide platforms for knowledge sharing, and foster a culture of recognition and appreciation. Results of Subash C. Kundu and Kusum Lata (2017) is concurrence with the present study, that good peer group interaction predicts employee retention.
By creating an environment where employees can form strong connections with their peers, organizations can enhance employee retention rates and create a more positive and productive workplace. Perceived Organizational Support plays a significant role in employee retention. When employees feel valued, supported, and cared for by their organization, they are more likely to stay and contribute to its success. Organizations that prioritize fostering a positive and supportive work environment tend to enjoy higher levels of employee retention. Job satisfaction plays a crucial role in employee retention. When employees are satisfied with their jobs, they are more likely to stay with the organization for a longer period. Peggy Lee et.al. (2017) confirms the present study results that job satisfaction positively predicts job satisfaction. Work engagement is a psychological state in which employees are fully immersed and absorbed in their work. It is characterized by high levels of energy, dedication, and involvement. Employee satisfaction, on the other hand, refers to the level of contentment and fulfilment an employee experiences in their job. E-commerce firms can promote work engagement and, subsequently, employee satisfaction by creating a supportive work environment, providing opportunities for growth and development, fostering positive relationships, and recognizing employee contributions. By focusing on work engagement, organizations can create a more satisfying work experience for their employees, leading to increased productivity, commitment, and overall organizational success.

CONCLUSION
The present study assessed the influence of sustainable work environment on work engagement, job satisfaction, and employee retention. The study addressed the research question proposed in the study and found that the Sustainable work environment influence Work engagement, job satisfaction and employee retention positively. The results of the study reveal that sustainable work environment positively predicts employee retention. Work engagement and Job satisfaction completely mediates the relationship between sustainable work environment and employee retention. The findings of the study implies that e-commerce firms may invest more on work engagement; as because the engaged employees are more likely to retain in the organizations. Also, firms may focus on satisfying their employees by offering various welfare measures such flexi work time, timely appraisal, engaging them with various job-related activities, etc. The present study implies to various stakeholders in the e-commerce firms to make polices related to HR policies, etc. The study has some limitations such as small sample, generalizability of results, etc. The future studies may use control variables such as demographic variables to be included. Other behavioral variables may also be used in future studies.